Décor fans, drool—The Center for Campus Art of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde showcases all the iconic chairs you dream of sitting on

By Gerry Torres

The latest exhibit of the Center for Campus Art of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde opened at the 12F Gallery of the Design and Arts Campus. “62 Icons: Milestones in Furniture Design from the Vitra Design Museum” showcases a valuable collection of miniature chairs and lounges, a donation from CWC International, through its president Fred Yuson.

As an educator, I have always been a fan of the Vitra miniatures and considered them valuable tools for the education of future architects and designers who might not have the opportunity to see the actual pieces. Replicated to the last detail of material, construction, and color, the miniatures are licensed copies from the collection of the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany. Due to their quality, they have also become high-end collector’s items.

The miniatures in the exhibit demonstrate the range of furniture designs from the early 19th century to the present. It begins with the 1820 Gartenstuhl by the German Architect Karl Frederick Schinkel, in between are the creations of Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe, Charles and Ray Eames, Frank Gehry, all the way to 2008 with Ronan and Erwan Touroullec. They represent significant stylistic eras from the beginning of industrial mass production in the 19th century, through the designs of the functionalist modern period, to the furniture of today.

To provide context and allow a fuller understanding of the chairs, each is curated to include visual information that points to its design origins. The designers and architects are shown with their portraits and provide us with faces of names we’ve heard of but never seen. Important dates of design and manufacture are included as well as key buildings, design objectives, production processes, material innovations, and retail documents of brochures and catalogs.

Sources of inspiration provide clues to the artistic imagination, like the de Stijl paintings of Piet Mondrian that inspired the Red and Blue chair of Gerrit Reitveld and the portrait of Madame Recamier by Jacques-Louis David that was the source of Ron Arad’s iconic Lockheed Lounge.

Toward the middle and late 20th century, instances of exposure to pop culture via film, television, and advertising are included. The Ribbon Chair in the 1966 Star Trek TV series, the Bocca in 1999’s Austin Powers 2, and the Barcelona chair in the James Bond 2006 film Casino Royale are some examples.

With the advent of MTV, some of the pieces were featured alongside the biggest names in entertainment. Ron Arad’s Big Easy was in Janet and Michael Jackson’s “Scream” and Marc Newson’s Lockheed Lounge was in Madonna’s “Rain,” where it was prominently exposed. The media mileage afforded by the music videos eventually helped propel them to their eventual iconic status.

The academic partner tapped for this exhibit was the AB Animation program. The college’s future animators were tasked to showcase their talents and creativity through video shorts that animated the stories of the chairs and the designers. The clips are shown on screens and provide a digital and animated counterpart to the artifacts. Their mentors include Francis Flores, Arnold Cheng, Jeremy Sanchez, Jan Yolec Homecillo, and Carmichael Hirang, as well as program chair Patrick Astilla and Dean Sharon Arriola.

Five full-sized chairs, on loan from CWC Interiors, including the uber-popular Eames Lounge and Ottoman, are installed in the lobby of the gallery to give visitors an idea of the designs in actual scale.

Ron Arad’s Big Easy was in Janet and Michael Jackson’s ‘Scream’ and Marc Newson’s Lockheed Lounge was in Madonna’s ‘Rain.’

Compared to my previous shows, this is the most minimalist, which does not make it easier, I discovered. The exhibit is scaled-down, compact, and intimate, inviting close inspection and contemplation of the details. This reveals why these chairs have been, through the years, considered icons.

I am always asked why I considered these chairs important. To know design history is to acknowledge that we architect and designers came from a long line of talented individuals who have made advancements in our fields that we apply to our work today. The exhibit demonstrates that designs we might have considered modern, contemporary, or cutting-edge have actually been created decades ago.

The author, an architect, is the director and curator of the Center of Campus Art, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.

62 Icons: Milestones in Furniture Design from the Vitra Design Museum is open Mondays to Fridays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the DLS-CSB Design and Arts Campus until Dec. 17, 2022.